Safety
by That Girl55
Summary: He'd die for her and he almost has. - SethXKate oneshot.


**This was written on my phone so I apologize for any mistakes to it. Also George Clooney's line from the original is one of my favorites and I was so sad they took it out of the series, so I had to add it in! Enjoy:) xx. **

They drive until the gas light turns on and starts dinging. Despite it all Kate had fallen asleep shortly after they left, but Seth was dead tired and set on finding a motel.

He pulled into the Golden Eagle Motel and goes into the lobby, getting them a room. He spots a vending machine and grabs them dinner too. Seth isn't sure what Kate likes so he gets one of everything, Lays and Cheetos and Chex Mix.

Seth gives the clerk a nod as he leaves and goes back to the car, parked and waiting out front, room key in hand.

When he gets in Kate's awake, her face red and her eyes wet; she's been crying.

"What happened?" It comes out meaner than Seth intended it to. He's nervous that Richie has gone back on his word and has arrived to bug her, or maybe her vampy brother.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Nightmares."

He nods because he's sure he'll have them tonight too.

They get into the motel room and there's only one bed.

"I can sleep on the floor." Seth notes duly, seeing her stare at it.

"You've had a longer night than me, you take the bed." She said almost emotionlessly. She walks into the bathroom and he hears the water start up before he can argue.

Seth fights the urge to climb into the bed and sleep-he's covered in vampire guts and dust from the temple. He opens a bag of Cheetos and turns on the TV, but everything's in Spanish and he doesn't understand so he turns it back off again.

She comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, her bloody clothes in her hand.

"I couldn't bear to put them back on," she sighed, laying them on the floor. "Not when I had just gotten it all off, you know?"

He nodded, rising and going to the bathroom himself. The faster he showered the faster he'd be able to get to sleep.

"Oh, and Kate," he said, poking his head out of the bathroom. "There's food on the table, take your pick."

She nodded, smiling lightly at him as she picked up a bag of trail mix.

While Seth showered Kate set up her little bed on the floor. She pulled down extra blankets from the closet and layered them on top of each other. The motel obviously had no heating and, believe it or not, rural Mexico was freezing at night.

Kate looked at her clothes, knowing she should grow up and put them on, but still she couldn't. Kate had killed her father in that shirt, those jeans. They were stained with blood and sweat and they were just plain dirty. She settled for just pulling on her bra and underwear and turning out the light, crawling under the thin covers in her makeshift bed.

She could hear the shower running, that was the only thing that kept her breathing regular. The rational and independent Kate had a sudden fear of Seth, a criminal for gods sake, leaving her. He didn't need her like she needed him, that was for sure. Seth didn't know what it meant to her, taking her along with him like this.

All her life Kate had been sheltered, cared for, loved and protected, now she had none of those things. Seth had given her a chance at that once more when he agreed to take her with him. She didn't think he would take care of her, not like her father had, but it was better than being on her own.

Seth got out of the shower and, in the pale light of the bathroom, she could see he was just in his boxers. Dirty sheets were better than bloody clothes, he guessed.

He left the bathroom light on, not even having to ask, and closed the door partway so a little sliver of light shined out. It reminded her of the lighting under the bar, and it made her nervous.

Seth crawled into bed and laid for what seemed like hours, their sleeping arrangements suddenly seeming unfair.

Kate was awake too, remembering nights spent in the RV. There were only two beds, and she shared with Scott. She didn't mind, it made her feel safe. Lying alone on the cold floor of a motel room didn't.

Seth's breathing had evened out and she thought he was asleep. She grabbed her blankets and climbed into bed with him.

For a moment Seth thought it was his brother, sulking back to him like a lost dog, but this body was much too tiny. It had to be Kate. Instinctively, he pulled her closer until their torsos were pressed against each other, his lips resting just above her eyebrows.

Seth groaned; she was so delicate and fragile, so young. Was it too late, he wondered, to take her back to the Titty Twister and put her in that RV and send her back to live a normal life in Bethel?

"I may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard. I shouldn't have let you come, Kate."

"You don't want me here?" She asked, her voice cracking as she shrunk away from him.

"This is no place for you, Kate. I'm a criminal, I'm gonna be doing criminal things. Robbing and all...it just isn't safe." Seth sighed. She was crying again, in the dim light he was reminded of how her face looked earlier, when she was in the car.

"Back when we first got here, you asked what had happened to make me cry. I thought you had left me, Seth. I thought you'd up and decided you didn't want me so you abandoned me in the middle of nowhere with your car." She shook her head.

"I won't abandon you," he shook his head, moving closer to her. She tried to reject him but he was stronger than her, and he pulled her into his embrace again.

"That's what you're talking about doing!" She practically screamed.

"Id take you back to the RV, I'd at least make sure you got to the border alright." He shook his head, rationalizing more with himself than with her.

"What would I do if I went home, Seth?" Her voice was quiet again, speculative. "I would go back to nothing-no family and no money, just a ransacked RV to my name. I'd get a job busting tables or bartending or, who knows, maybe at a topless bar, and live out of the RV until one day Id hear on the radio about how one of the famous Gecko brothers was finally caught-and the other remains at large. Then I'd be traveling back to Mexico for a funeral, and that'd be that."

"I'm not going to stop stealing for you if that's what you're looking for, Kate." Seth bit his lip.

"If you go down, I go down. That's how I want it to be." Her eyes shines as she looked up at him, pure as a child's in a mind and body that was all adult.

Seth nodded, knowing he would make no promises because the girl in bed next to him meant more than life itself but there's no way he'd ever tell anyone that. He'd die for her and he almost has.

It wasn't the money and it wasn't winning that kept him playing Carlos' game, it was Kate and the fact that she was still somewhere lost under the bar, and he didn't know how to get her out.

Remembering that Seth can't help himself, and he leans down and kisses the girl firmly on the lips, thankful she's safe. He can practically see Mr. and Mrs. Fuller rolling around in their graves with disapproval.

He stopped kissing her, leaning his head up against hers.

"It's cold," she said quietly. "And I'm not used to sleeping alone. Can I stay here?"

Seth laughed at her, his eyes closed.

"You think, after everything we've been through, that Id really make you sleep on the floor?" She's lost for words, so Seth says it for her. "Get some rest, Kate. Goodnight."

And for the first time in 48 hours, they both feel like there's hope.


End file.
